Iraq stops Syria-bound jet

Iraq stopped and searched a cargo plane heading from Iran[2] to Syria for weapons for the second time in a month yesterday before allowing the plane to continue amid violent continued clashes between the Syrian army and rebels across Syria despite a plea for a cease-fire.

The move may be aimed at easing U.S. concerns that Iraq has become a route for shipments of Iranian military supplies that might help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad battle militants in his country’s civil war.

“We ordered an Iranian cargo plane travelling to Syria to land at Baghdad International Airport for inspection,” Nasser Bandar, the head of Iraq’s civil aviation authority, told Agence France-Presse. “It was inspected by security forces, but we did not find any banned items, and we allowed it to continue its trip,” Bandar said. Inspectors found medical supplies and humanitarian goods.

Bandar said they had orders to stop and search any suspicious cargo plane. Iraq stopped an Iranian cargo plane for the same reason on Oct. 2, but allowed it to continue to Syria after inspections concluded it was not carrying prohibited items.